Altbier Düsseldorf Alt

[ohiobrewtus]

Recipe Type

All Grain

Yeast

WLP810

Yeast Starter

2l

Additional Yeast or Yeast Starter

none

Batch Size (Gallons)

6

Original Gravity

1.055

Final Gravity

1.010

Boiling Time (Minutes)

60

IBU

46.5

Color

14.2

Primary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

14 @ 62

Secondary Fermentation (# of Days & Temp)

28 @ 62

Additional Fermentation

none

Tasting Notes

see below

BeerSmith Recipe Printout - BeerSmith Brewing Software, Recipes, Blog, Wiki and Discussion Forum
Recipe: Klaiberhaus Dusseldorf Altbier
Brewer: HopHed Brewhaus
Asst Brewer:
Style: Dusseldorf Altbier
TYPE: All Grain
Taste: (35.0)
Recipe Specifications
--------------------------
Batch Size: 6.00 gal
Boil Size: 6.65 gal
Estimated OG: 1.055 SG
Estimated Color: 14.2 SRM
Estimated IBU: 46.5 IBU
Brewhouse Efficiency: 75.00 %
Boil Time: 60 Minutes
Ingredients:
------------
Amount Item Type % or IBU
7.00 lb Pilsner (2 Row) Ger (2.0 SRM) Grain 57.73 %
2.00 lb Munich Malt (9.0 SRM) Grain 16.49 %
2.00 lb Vienna Malt (3.5 SRM) Grain 16.49 %
1.00 lb Caramunich Malt (56.0 SRM) Grain 8.25 %
0.13 lb Carafa III (525.0 SRM) Grain 1.03 %
2.00 oz Tettnang [4.50 %] (60 min) Hops 25.8 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [6.00 %] (60 min) Hops 17.2 IBU
1.00 oz Hallertauer [6.00 %] (5 min) Hops 3.4 IBU
1 Pkgs San Francisco Lager (White Labs #WLP810) Yeast-Lager

Mash Schedule: Decoction Mash, Double
Total Grain Weight: 12.13 lb
----------------------------
Decoction Mash, Double
Step Time Name Description Step Temp
35 min Protein Rest Add 6.06 gal of water at 126.6 F 122.0 F
20 min Saccharification Decoct 2.57 gal of mash and boil it 155.0 F
10 min Saccharification Decoct 1.60 gal of mash and boil it 168.0 F


I used WLP810 in this recipe, but I would recommend using WLP036 when you can get it. WLP036 contributes more to the ester profile that is typically associated with the style. This is nice beer though. Well balanced with a nice malty nose and a mild bitterness in the palate that's quickly swept away by malt character.

View attachment dusseldorf altbier.bsm

 

[JLem]

Not sure if you'll see this at this point, but...how close is this to a "true" Dusseldorf alt? I have a friend whose wife is from Dusseldorf and I'd like to make something for them since they can't get a true alt here commercially. She's very picky about what you call an altbier - they've tried some American alt-style beers and she hasn't found one she'll drink again.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

I've never had a true German Alt, so I can't speak as to how close it is to German versions. I can say that it's about on par with the American brewed versions that I have tried.

 

[Moe]

Not sure if you'll see this at this point, but...how close is this to a "true" Dusseldorf alt? I have a friend whose wife is from Dusseldorf and I'd like to make something for them since they can't get a true alt here commercially. She's very picky about what you call an altbier - they've tried some American alt-style beers and she hasn't found one she'll drink again.

This is many months past your post, but i'll be brewing an Alt in a few weeks, and i've made nearly a dozen trips to Dusseldorf, so should be able to tell you if my recipe is close to the real thing (there are subtle differences even between the Dusseldorf Alts, do you know which is her favorite?),,,,,,,,,, with fermenting and lagering, it will be a couple months before mine is ready however.

-Moe

 

[Talloak]

I need some advice on the specifics of decoction mashing. I am using a 10gallon orange cooler as a MLT. I have a 10gallon brew kettle, plus a 5 gallon brew kettle, and one burner. Let me see if I got this.

1) Dough in with strike water at ~126 to perform a protein rest at ~122 for 35 minutes.

2) After the 35 minute protein rest is up, I draw off about 2.5 gallons, heat it to 155 and hold for 20 minutes, then bring it to a boil and add it back to the mash tun. Stir, let grain bed settle for 10 minutes.

3) After grain bed has settled for 10 minutes, I draw off about 1.6 gallons, heat it to 168, hold for 10 minutes, then bring it to a boil and add it back to the mash tun. Stir, let the grain bed settle for 10 minutes.

4) Mash out as I usually would.

Is this correct? Or is the intention to simply draw off wort, boil specific amounts to then raise the temp of the entire mash, so I wouldn't be holding temps of the decoctions, but rather simply attempting to boil?

 

[Talloak]

Yah, nevermind. This was very helpful: https://www.homebrewtalk.com/wiki/index.php/Decoction_mash

Should have just checked the wiki. Palmer was very vague on decoction mashing. www.howtobrew.com basically just tells you to ask someone else.

 

[ohiobrewtus]

Is this correct? Or is the intention to simply draw off wort, boil specific amounts to then raise the temp of the entire mash, so I wouldn't be holding temps of the decoctions, but rather simply attempting to boil?

You've got it in this paragraph. Draw the decoction, boil it, then add it back to the mash to hit 155, then do your rest. Repeat with the 2nd decoction.

 

[jamieofthenorth]

Going to do this one next. Wife hinted strongly that she wants an altbier and it sounded good to me as well. Thanks for the recipe.

 

[pheno7]

My second beer ever was made with this recipe and it's a wonderful beer.

We used Düsseldorf yeast instead and we tea-hopped half the batch with some Citra pellet hops and the result is amazing.
By tea-hopping, I mean cheating dry hopping by making a hops tea on about a cup of water: we had the idea the day of bottling.

 

[Jeff...]

I brewed a single step infusion mash German Altbrier as an experimental recipe that I crafted.

I wanted to hop with Spalt, but I couldn't find any anywhere at the time. So I used Tettnanger & Hallertaur instead. As I suspected the hops are all wrong for this style. But the beer is a pretty copper color with a creamy tan head. It's a decent beer, but not what it could be... I'm drinking a pint of it now

I'll tweak this recipe next time dump the briess 80L and hop with Spalt, since I now have a pound of Spalt hops. I've also made some efficiency improvements to my all-grain setup.